


Listening In

by gayvidtennant



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-26
Updated: 2016-01-26
Packaged: 2018-05-16 08:00:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5820547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gayvidtennant/pseuds/gayvidtennant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose is at a coffee shop when she hears two men having a conversation in Norwegian. Unbeknownst to them, Rose speaks Norwegian and listens in. Just a short AU oneshot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Listening In

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first real one shot/fic, so any suggestions/constructive criticism are welcomed and appreciated!

She was at the café when she heard it. Which wasn’t surprising, really, seeing as Rose spent the majority of her time there, studying and writing essays for university. She always sat at the same table in the corner; it was free from distraction and the perfect spot to get things done. She usually had her earphones in, listening to playlists on her computer to drown out the ordinary noises of a coffee shop. She had just opened up her laptop, waiting for it to boot up when her ears perked up.

_“Synes du det?”_

_Do you think so?_

Even though London was a city full of diversity and cultures, Rose rarely heard people speaking Norwegian, and when she did she always snapped to attention. Her mother had moved to London from Norway when she was a little girl, and so when Rose was born, she was raised learning Norwegian and English. Besides family gatherings, it hadn’t much come in handy, but Rose was thankful her mother worked so hard to teach her.

Especially in situations like this; she always had a bad habit of eavesdropping, and it was particularly enjoyable when it happened to be in the other language she knew.

She managed to locate the voice of the man speaking in Norwegian, despite the quite large crowd in the small coffee shop. He was average height, with a mess of dark hair and light eyes. He was also staring straight at her. When he saw that she noticed, he quickly averted his eyes, pretending to study the menu rather intensely.

Then she saw the person he was standing with.

He was as tall as he was skinny, and he had a brown pinstriped suit on, regardless of the casual setting of the café. He had messy brown hair that was sticking up everywhere, and she wondered how he got it do to that. He idly ran his left hand through it, mussing it up further and answering her question. His eyes were a deep brown, and they reflected kindness and curiosity that she could sense even from across the room.  
In a word, he was gorgeous.

_“Ja, hun er vakker.”_

He had a voice to match his appearance. Rose was so busy gaping at him, she didn’t even register what he had said. _Yeah, she’s beautiful._ He had said it to the shorter man next to him, who nodded in agreement. The short one smirked, and said _“Du bør snakke med henne.”_

The attractive one shook his head, running his hand through his hair again. He looked at the floor and continued to protest. _You should talk to her._ Rose realized then that she was staring, and if either of the men were to look at her, they’d see her gawking at them. She tore her eyes away from them, and turned her attention to her laptop. She opened up an essay she was supposed to be writing for English class, and tried to act like she was typing. She continued to listen in on their conversation, which consisted of the short one egging his friend on to talk to some girl. Rose could feel jealousy rising in spite of herself. This man was a complete stranger! Albeit a very attractive stranger, but she had never spoken to him before. She hadn’t known he existed until moments before. She had absolutely no reason to feel protective of him.

She decided that she had been playing her part very well, and that she at least deserved another look at the guy. Rose turned her head to the right again, where the two men were now seated at a table. She was shocked to see two pairs of eyes staring back at her – the shocking blue eyes of the short one, and the welcoming brown eyes of the tall one. The short one’s eyes darted to his friend, whose mouth fell open as he continued to hold eye contact with her. The short one started to laugh, which snapped the tall one out of his trance. He quickly looked down at his plate as if his food had suddenly become very interesting. His friend began to laugh harder, and Rose could see his face reddening with embarrassment.

 _“Din dumskalle!”_ The short one said to his friend, as he continued to laugh uproariously. The tall one reached across the table and punched his friend’s arm. It just made him laugh harder.

 _You ass!_ It finally dawned on Rose that the beautiful girl they were talking about could be her. She had caught them staring at her twice now. But was this just wishful thinking? It made sense. The stunningly attractive man seemed mortified when she caught him staring at her, and his friend was relentlessly teasing him because of it. Should she go talk to him? He didn’t know that she could understand every word he was saying, so would it be weird to tell him that she had been listening in to his whole conversation?

She was pulled out of her thoughts when someone suddenly plopped down in the chair across from her. “Hiii!” a voice rang out, startling her even further. “I’m Aksel. My friend over there is John.” Aksel, who Rose had mentally been referring to as the short Norwegian man, pointed over to the table where the gorgeous man was seated, looking over in horror at Aksel and Rose. “John wants to ask for your number but he is very shy and dumb. Except you should still give it to him. He’s a good guy but he's shy and dumb.” Aksel said, a toothy grin plastered on his face.

It was then John apparently decided to come out of his trance, and he rushed over to Rose’s table. “I’m so sorry,” he said, grabbing Aksel tightly by his arm. “He’s only been in England for a short time. He’s here with an exchange program. It’s for deranged people to experience university like normal students. He doesn’t know how to properly contain himself in public.” He promptly began to swear at Aksel in Norwegian, causing Aksel to laugh once again. His laughter was contagious, and Rose found herself giggling along with him.

“I’m sane! I’m perfectly sane! He’s mad because I get better grades than him! And I’m not scared to talk to pretty girls!” Aksel said through his laughter, which got him a slap from John.

John tried with great effort to drag Aksel away from the table. John was even skinnier up close, and Rose could tell he wasn’t hiding any muscle under his pinstripes. Aksel may have been shorter, but John had no chance pulling him away. John continued to fire cusses in Norwegian, which caused Rose to laugh again.

 _“Du vet, jeg snakker norsk.”_ She said, causing both men to pause in their efforts.

_You know, I speak Norwegian._

_“Er det sant?”_ John asked, his face flushing once again. _Really?_ “Ehm, how much?”

“Enough to understand your whole conversation.” She admitted, avoiding eye contact with both of them.

“Really?! That’s perfect!” Aksel yelled, looking at both Rose and John. _“Perfekt! Er du norsk?” Perfect! Are you Norwegian?_

“ _Nei, jeg er britisk.” No, I’m British._

“So is John! John’s really smart. He learns things for fun. Like Norwegian. You have so much in common. I’m going to leave you all to it.” And with a wink at both of them, Aksel was gone.

“Ehm, I’m sorry, he’s – Aksel – well, uh, you – I, I mean –” John babbled, looking again like a deer in headlights. “I can – I’ll just go.” He made a start to stand up.

“No, stay!” Rose said, hoping she didn’t sound too needy. “I’m Rose, by the way. Rose Tyler.”

The left side of John’s mouth quirked up, and he sat back down. “John Smith.”

“Nice to meet you, John.” Rose said, a smile taking over her face. “Thanks. Um, for what you called me earlier when you were talking to Aksel. I know I shouldn’t of been listening, but it was really sweet.”

John rubbed at the back of his neck with his hand. “Ah. Yes. You’re welcome.”

Rose began to fish through the front pocket of her backpack, smiling when she found what she was looking for. She pulled out the pen and scribbled onto a napkin that was lying on her table. She folded it in half and handed it to him, and laughed when he looked confused. “Aksel said you wanted my number. I hope that still stands?”

John smiled as he pocketed the napkin.


End file.
